Do you know what reforestation consists of?

Reforestation refers to repopulating areas that in the recent historical past (50 years) were covered with forests that have been eliminated for reasons such as:

• Exploitation of wood for industrial purposes or for consumption as plants.
• Expansion of the agricultural or livestock frontier.
• Expansion of urban areas.
• Forest fires (intentional, accidental or natural).

Reforestation is also called, although the term afforestation would be more correct, to the more or less massive planting of trees, in areas where they did not exist, at least in recent historical times. It is very important to know that reforestation cannot simply consist of planting trees where there are few or where there were none before. To carry it out, an environmental study is necessary since the ecological balance is very sensitive and efforts to reforest can be unsuccessful or even harmful to the ecosystem. For this reason, prior work is necessary to define which species of trees are the most appropriate for the area, regardless of the use of their wood or purpose. It is essential that they do not end up becoming, for example, an invasive species that prevents the growth of native species because it would make the species of insects or animals that feed on them disappear, breaking the natural chain and the ecosystem of the place.